Elizabeth (Libbie) Graehl Evans Obituary (1956 - 2020)

Funeral services for Libbie Evans will be broadcast live on Friday, October 2, 2020 beginning at 10:45 AM. To watch this service, please click on the link below. Click HERE to view Funeral Services for Libbie Evans Libbie was born on Aug. 29, 1956 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Alvin Paul Graehl and Marilyn Rasmussen. She was the 5th of 7 children. She had fond memories of her childhood in Cottonwood Heights where she lived from the age of two until she married Mike in 1990. She graduated from Brighton High School with the class of ‘74. As a child, Libbie enjoyed playing with her cousins who lived down the street. She enjoyed playing games in her yard like hopscotch and jump rope. She enjoyed babysitting. Her first job was working for the milk depot. She took orders and delivered customers’ milk and ice cream to their cars. She enjoyed spending time with her family and going to family reunions. A favorite memory is going up the canyon on the 4th of July, eating breakfast in the mountains and hiking from Brighton to Alta with her Dad and siblings. Libbie was quite athletic, excelling in girl’s softball and volleyball. She dated a lot and enjoyed life. On Sunday afternoons, Connie Thomas would pick them up and they would go for a drive with Karen, Libbie and Claudia Townsend and stop and get dessert at the Iceberg. They enjoyed being silly together. The longer they were together, the sillier they got. She attended concerts with her sister, some favorites were the Bee Gees, Earth, Wind, and Fire, The Eagles and Kenny Loggins. Libbie’s first car was a red Camaro and she had a lead foot, but her siblings would always get where they needed to go on time or early. She enjoyed traveling and went on trips to Hawaii and Mazatlán. She supported her sister on her mission and would write and have little Andrew write to her regularly. Libbie welcomed her Christmas baby Andrew in 1978. She worked for the Utah Symphony and as a billing decoder, but her favorite job was working for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Public Communications Department. It was through a friend at work, that she met Michael Paul Evans. He was living in Bremerton, Washington when they began a long distance relationship. After many many hours on the phone, Libbie brought her son Andrew up to meet Mike and his sons Adam and Zach. They went crab fishing and hiking and Mike proposed on a beautiful park bench overlooking the ocean. They lived in an apartment overlooking Puget Sound after they married in August 1990. Mike tried to introduce Libbie to seafood, but she ate some while pregnant and could never stomach seafood after that. She lovingly mothered Adam and Zach each summer. Her children will always remember watching fireworks from the balcony of the Bremerton apartment. In 1991, Mike and Libbie welcomed baby Nicholas. That same week they moved to Boise, ID. They stayed in the Residence Inn for a few weeks until their house by the park was ready. During that time, they loved meeting and playing basketball with the Blue Angels. Libbie loved taking care of baby Nicholas, her youngest son, and she developed a very special bond with him that continues today. Her family was all into dirt bikes, and she attempted her one and only time driving a motorcycle in the backyard. After crashing it into the fence, she never quite wanted to drive a motorcycle after that. Libbie enjoyed walking with her friends. In 1994, the family moved to Park City. Adam moved in full time and he and Andrew roomed together throughout high school. Mike and Libbie made a lot of great friends and memories in Park City. Libbie worked in medical billing for an optometrist and an ear, nose throat doctor. In addition to these responsibilities, she attended sporting events and supported Andrew, Adam and Zach through high school. In 2004, Libbie saved the day when she smelled smoke in the middle of the night and found Nick’s bedding had caught fire. They threw the burning mattress out the second story window into the snow. In 2005, Mike and Libbie moved to West Jordan where Nick attended junior high and high school. Libbie loved having Nick and his teenage friends around. She always made sure the house had all the comforts teenagers could want. Nick and his friends could always find a stash of pizza rolls and Mountain Dew set aside just for them. When Libbie needed a chore to be done, rather than raising her voice or speaking harshly, she would give a big smile and a big “PLEASE…” One of Libbie’s great joys in life was serving in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was committed to her faith, and she worked to magnify her callings. She served in relief society presidencies, and while she didn’t like to stand in front of a crowd, she was always willing to teach a relief society lesson if asked. After her health challenges limited her ability to attend church in person, she found great joy in serving as the visiting teaching coordinator. She called all the women in her ward and grew close to many of them through her conversations. She also loved her assignment of making the ward programs and would spend hours looking up songs and scriptures to make sure they supported the theme of the meeting. Libbie liked to listen to Oldies 94.1 music and taught Nick how to enjoy music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Libbie is famous for her delicious birthday cakes. In the family recipe book, we have “Libbie’s famous chocolate cake,” oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, “Helens apple cake” and other recipes that no one can make as well as Libbie did. Libbie was caring, selfless, giving, was always concerned that she would offend someone, and worked hard to be kind and gentle. She was a peacekeeper who did her best to help everybody in the large blended family feel happy and feel included. She was a friend to everyone. Libbie loved giving good gifts. She would look for the perfect gift in a person’s favorite color and then get it to gift them. On Christmas Eve - never a day earlier -, Libbie would set up “Christmas station” and wrap each gift with paper and bows making sure it was just right. Following a tradition she learned from her own mother, she would wrap until the wee hours of the morning while watching White Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life. She loved the movie The Princess Bride and the Pink Panther Series. She and Nicholas would watch and re-watch and then quote the movies together. Nick loved coming up with silly jokes and making her laugh (even if they weren’t really funny). When Nick was learning how to grill burgers or make smoothies, Libbie would gush what a wonderful cook he was and that they were the best burgers she had ever tasted. Libbie was quick witted and had a large vocabulary. She liked to tell Nick to come over and be cantankerous. She liked to prepare food for family get togethers and would often wear herself out so much that she would have to retire early. She worked on her computer a lot and could type 100 words per minute. She loved shopping on QVC and singing in the car. She loved reading new things and saving funny memes to share with her sister and friends. Libbie made good friends at the various places she worked and was able to stay close to them over the years. In the last few years since Mike retired from banking, he and Libbie have grown closer than they ever thought possible. As a wife, she excelled in treating her husband like a king. She loved her new puppy Sweetie, and had a very special relationship with her 15-year-young puppy Stinker, who followed her every move, and who misses her deeply now. Some of her greatest loves were: Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, chocolate, the colors purple, blue and red, cakes, nice jewelry, red roses, and matching her beautiful fingernails to her outfits. For the last 15 years, Libbie has suffered from health concerns related to her stomach, esophagus and lungs. She has endured being on oxygen for much of that time and many surgeries. Even with her health challenges, she remained committed to her family and to service. Libbie selflessly cared for her husband Mike for 30 years as he developed Multiple Sclerosis and complications related to MS. As a wife, she was Mike’s Godsend and his light. He feels indebted to her and is so grateful he was able to spend his life with her. Libbie will be deeply missed by her loving husband Mike and remembered as a beautiful, kind, fun, loving mother to her boys Andrew (Cami), Adam (Becky), Zach (Katie), Nick and grandmother to Ammon, Hailey, Jackson, Charlie, Lillianna, Sam, Amelia, Lily and Ryker. Viewing: Thursday, October 1st, 2020 from 6:00-8:00 PM at Jenkins-Soffe South Valley, 1007 W. South Jordan Pkwy. (10600 S), South Jordan, UT 84095 Funeral Services: Friday, October 2nd, 2020 at 11:00 AM (9:30-10:45AM Family Viewing) at LDS Chapel, 8176 S 5140 W, West Jordan, UT 84081 Interment following the services: Mountain View Memorial Cemetery.